By Guy Page
A Barre man has died following a shooting on Thursday evening, and a Washington woman has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Franklin Driscoll, 45, of Barre, was shot once in the abdomen at about 5:25 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, inside a home at 879 N. Main St. in Barre City.
Driscoll was transported by first responders to Central Vermont Medical Center and then transferred to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, where he died at about 4 AM on Friday, April 25. An autopsy conducted on Friday afternoon by the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
Police detained Donna Robinson, 43, of the Town of Washington. She was later arrested. And charged with burglary, simple assault, two counts of possessing a firearm as a prohibited person, and being a habitual offender. She was ordered jailed without bail.
The Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office has since filed 10 charges against Robinson, including involuntary manslaughter, burglary into an occupied dwelling, firearm possession by a prohibited person (two counts), simple assault, and reckless endangerment (five counts).
Robinson was scheduled to be arraigned on these charges this afternoon Monday, April 28, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Barre.
The Vermont State Police is leading the investigation into the shooting, working in close collaboration with the Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office. Assisting law enforcement agencies include the police departments from Barre City, Barre Town, Berlin, and Montpelier, as well as the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. The Vermont State Police assets involved in the investigation include detectives from the Major Crime Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Crime Scene Search Team, Victim Services Unit, and Field Force Division.
Initial investigation suggests that this was an isolated incident involving individuals who knew each other.